NOLA City Business: Louisiana official: State adapting to ‘new normal’ of climate change

Louisiana’s top official for coastal issues says state and local officials must learn to live with the “new normal” of climate change.

Chip Kline, chairman of the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, acknowledged that not everyone agrees human activities are causing the climate to change. But regardless of the causes, the effects are undeniable, he said.

“I think sea level rise is going to be the main driver that we need to contend with if we’re going to be successful [preserving coastal Louisiana],” Kline said in a recent online discussion hosted by Val Marmillion of America’s Wetland Foundation. “You can’t argue with the fact that the Gulf of Mexico is rising.”